OBAMA: 'WE DON'T HAVE A STRATEGY YET' ON ISIS

Obama makes a statement
from the White House press briefing room ahead of a meeting with
his national security council.REUTERS/Larry Downing

U.S. President Barack Obama addressed a pair of worsening
world crises Thursday afternoon, blaming Russia for escalating
violence in eastern regions of Ukraine and admitting he doesn't
yet have a strategy to
confront the extremist group calling itself the Islamic State in
Iraq and Syria (also ISIS or ISIL).

His statement from the White House came amid a day of significant escalation in the crisis in
Ukraine, as Ukraine's president accused Russia of sending
troops across the border to fight with pro-Russian separatists in
Ukraine's southeastern regions. Obama said it was clear the
ongoing violence had been "encouraged" by Russia, who he said
trained and armed separatists in the violence-stricken regions.

"Russia is responsible for the violence in eastern Ukraine,"
Obama said. "This ongoing Russian incursion into Ukraine
will only bring more costs and consequences for Russia."

Obama is scheduled to meet Thursday evening with members of his
National Security Council, as well as Vice President Joe Biden,
on a strategy to further confront the extremist group ISIS in
Iraq and Syria. A White House official said no new decisions are
expected on how to proceed Thursday.

"I don't want to put the cart before the
horse," Obama said, when asked about the next steps in
confronting the group.

"We don't have a strategy yet," he
said.

A tribal fighter aims his
weapon during an intensive security deployment to fight against
militants of the Islamic State in the town of Haditha, northwest
of Baghdad.REUTERS/Osama
Al-dulaimi

The U.S. conducted five
additional airstrikes against the group in Iraq on Thursday,
according to U.S. Central Command. The airstrikes destroyed
a Humvee, a tank,
four armed vehicles, and a construction vehicle, as well as
severely damaging an ISIS checkpoint. Over the past three weeks,
the U.S. has conducted 106 airstrikes against ISIS targets in
Iraq.

Obama is weighing a broader
offensive against the extremist group after it brutally murdered
American journalist James Foley. Obama's secretary of defense,
Chuck Hagel, and his top military brass have suggested ISIS needs to be confronted in
Syria as part of any plan to contain the group.

Obama said the strategy would
need to involve military, political, and diplomatic aspects. He
said it would take political reform in Iraq and support from a
broad variety of allies in the region to confront
ISIS. Obama said he is sending Secretary of State John
Kerry to the region to secure allies in the fight, and he has
asked Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to prepare military options
to confront the group.

But he said the problem cannot
simply be solve through military efforts alone.

"Our military is the best
in the world. We can rout ISIS on the ground and keep a lid on
things temporarily, but then as soon as we leave the same
problems come back," Obama said.

A Ukrainian Mi-24
helicopter gunship flies above a military base in the eastern
Ukrainian town of Kramatorsk, Aug. 27, 2014.REUTERS/Gleb Garanich

The escalation in Ukraine has
sparked international outrage after Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko accused
Russia of sending troops across the Ukrainian border to fight
with pro-Russian separatist rebels. Obama said he had spoken with
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday, and he promised
additional "costs" on Russia while hinting at the possibility of
ramped-up sanctions. But there was one option he ruled
out.

"We are not taking military action to solve
the Ukrainian problem," Obama said.

Earlier on Thursday, the U.S.
ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, lashed out at
Russia in an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council. She
accused Russia of "outright lies" and a campaign of
manipulation.

The emergency meeting of the security council was called after
President Poroshenko said Russian troops were fighting on
the side of separatists in Ukraine and were advancing in the
southeast region of the country. NATO subsequently echoed
his allegations.

Ukraine's defense council said Russian troops are leading a
separatist counteroffensive in the east, bringing in tanks and
firing artillery from inside Ukrainian territory.

A Russian-backed rebel leader said that at
least 3,000 to 4,000 Russian troops were fighting inside Ukraine.